Informed Consent for Participation in this Research Study
A Humanistic Examination of Posttraumatic Growth in United States Military Veterans Informed Consent for Surveys February 10, 2017 Matthew Lemberger-Truelove, PhD and Aaron Smith, MA, from the Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education, are conducting a research study. The purpose of the research is to examine whether the degree to which we perceive meaning in our lives can explain any growth we may have experienced because of our traumatic experience(s). You are being asked to participate in this study because you self-report as being over the age of 18, that you have experienced trauma(s) at some point(s) in your life, and that you have served in the United States Armed Forces. You are also agreeing that your participation is in no way funded by the US government (nor is your participation done via a US government device, nor while on US government-owned property). Your participation will involve answering survey questions pertaining to some demographic information, a measure of perceived life-meaning (how purposeful you currently find your life), and regarding whether you have experienced growth in certain areas of functioning because of your traumatic experience(s) (referred to as Posttraumatic Growth). The three surveys should take about 20 minutes to complete. Your involvement in the study is voluntary, and you may choose not to participate. You can refuse to answer any of the questions at any time, except for the participant screening questions verifying the information contained in this consent. There are no names or identifying information associated with your responses and all your data will remain de-identified throughout all phases of the research study. You may also choose to self-terminate your participation by closing the survey screens and choosing not to continue and your data will not be used in the final analyses. There are no known risks in this study, but some individuals may experience discomfort or loss of privacy when answering questions. Data will be gathered securely via this HIPAA-compliant survey software (Opinio) and once downloaded for statistical analyses, it will be secured via 256-bit password protection at all times. Your anonymous, de-identified data will be kept for use in future studies (secured via 256-bit password security). The findings from this project will provide information on whether meaning in life can predict or explain Posttraumatic Growth amongst Veterans that have experienced trauma. If published, results will be presented in summary form only and no quotes or names will be used (nor will any names be recorded at any point in time). If you have any questions about this research project, please feel free to call Matthew Lemberger-Truelove at 505-277-4575. If you have questions regarding your rights as a research subject, or about what you should do in case of any harm to you, or if you want to obtain information or offer input you may call the UNM Office of the IRB (OIRB) at (505) 277-2644 or irb.unm.edu. By clicking “I agree” you will be agreeing to participate in the above described research study. If you do not agree, please select, "I do not agree" and exit all surveys to end participation.